The 89th Circle Time: The Show and Tell Weekly Thread
Show and Tell is wasted on elementary schoolers. Join several dozen bloggers weekly to show off an item, tell a story, and get the attention of the class. In other words, this is Show and Tell 2.0. Everyone is welcome to join, even if you have never posted before and just found out about Show and Tell for the first time today. So yank out a photo of the worst bridesmaid’s dress you ever wore and tell us the story; show off the homemade soup you cooked last night; or tell us all about the scarf you made for your first knitting project. Details on how to participate are located at the bottom of this post.
Let’s begin.
On Monday, I was supposed to get my guitar restrung, though ended up with only one replaced string, which is a long story that you will be subjected to in a moment. The reason this fact is important is that the guitar still sounds like shit and Josh has offered to pay me not to play it. He gave me a massage one night in exchange for a promise that I would leave it in the case. This is a beautiful thing.
I have not played the guitar since the twins were babies and I instituted the game “band camp” which meant we sat on the living room floor and I played the same three chords over and over again and they banged on their Fisher Price instruments and I recorded it and would play it for Josh every night, asking him, “do you think we have a chance at establishing a family band? Like the Jonas Brothers or the Von Trapps?” See, even back then I knew how to create a little piece of torture.
The best part is that because it hasn’t been played in years, the twins have pretty much forgotten about the guitar. I gave them a little reminder on Tuesday night. They were up talking after bedtime, so I crept upstairs with the guitar, bumped the door open with my hip, and started serenading them with an impromptu song about how they’re in deep shit for not going to bed. The Wolvog informed me that I had scared him with my earnest opening G-chord, but since I was up there anyway, could he try the guitar? Band camp has been resurrected.
I’m not ashamed to admit this–I don’t know how to string a classical guitar. I’m also not ashamed to admit this–some of my strings are 25 years old. I have one string that is massively corroded and set to snap at any moment. But what can I do? I have an unnatural attachment to these original guitar strings and no desire to learn a new skill. Actually, I would love to learn if someone wanted to teach me. I don’t want to learn off of YouTube, which is what the woman in the store suggested.
She was unwilling to restring my guitar unless I was willing to leave it there overnight (even though, I might add, the store was empty the half hour we debated this, the phone didn’t ring once, and it took her under three minutes to change the string she did change despite the fact that she told me it would take forever to change all six strings. Apparently, forever is currently equal to 18 minutes). As she replaced the one string, she suggested that I learn how to take care of my guitar and told me that I have no business owning this guitar unless I do.
I know Riotgrrl was trying to get me to grow a pair of ovaries (perhaps ones that work!) by giving me a tough love speech about wo-manning up and becoming self-sufficient. But I didn’t want tough love. I didn’t want love at all. I just wanted my guitar restrung so I could play my way through Rise Up Singing. And since Josh wouldn’t buy me this at O’Hurley’s General Store in Shepherdstown last weekend, I have no choice but to use the guitar. Corroded strings and all.
Which is just a long way of saying–does anyone want to buy me a lap harp or teach me how to string my guitar?
What are you showing today?
Click here or scroll down to the bottom of this post if this is your first time joining along (Important: link to the permalink for the post, not the main url for your blog and use your blog’s name, not your name. Links not going to a Show and Tell post will be deleted). The list is open from now until late Friday night and a new one is posted every week.
Other People Standing at the Head of the Class:
- If you would like to join circle time and show something to the class, simply post each Wednesday night (or any time between Wednesday morning and Friday night), hopefully including a picture if possible, and telling us about your item. It can be anything–a photo from a trip, a picture of the dress you bought this week, a random image from an old yearbook showing a person you miss. It doesn’t need to contain a picture if you can’t get a picture–you can simply tell a story about a single item. The list opens every Wednesday night and closes on Friday night.
- You must mention Show and Tell and include a link back to this post in your post so people can find the rest of the class. This spreads new readership around through the list. This is now required.
- Label your post “Show and Tell” each week and then come back here and add the permalink for the post via the Mr. Linky feature (not your blog’s main url–use the permalink for your specific Show and Tell post).
- Oh, and then the point is that you click through all of your classmates and see what they are showing this week. And everyone loves a good “ooooh” and “aaaah” and to be queen (or king) of the playground for five minutes so leave them a comment if you can.
- Did you post a link and now it’s missing?: I reserve the right to delete any links that are not leading to a Show and Tell post or are the blogging equivalent of a spitball.
- If you want it…
I’ve now placed a Show and Tell archive on the sidebar that will be updated each week in case you miss it. And click here for the icon code if you wish to have it for your blog. It links to the archives.
21 comments
Lol, funny story! Good luck with the family band! Sorry I’m no help with guitars or stringing them, but I wouldn’t have appreciated that lady’s “tough love” either.
cute story. I have a guitar, kids always say “oh no” when I pull it out. I know silent night on it, oh and jingle bells lol. I don’t know how to string it though…I leave that to the guitar store, good luck
Not a stringer, but a singer. May I join the family band? I’ll bring my flute. I’m pretty good.
You should introduce the grudging guitar-stringer to the grudging ballet shoe sellers.
lol… I’m sorry that I can’t help with either. I have absolutely no musical ability (to the point where the very small Bible college I attended told me that they didn’t need my voice in the choir).
I know nothing about guitars, so I’m no help there! AND gosh if FOREVER is 18 whole minutes I’ll wait FOREVER to have a baby 😉 I love how warped some people’s minds are especially when it comes to customer service, sorry you had a dud!
I’m guessing that stringing is not a problem, but tuning it is. I mean, isn’t it just a matter of picking the right size string, and winding it in there correctly? But, I may not be the right person to ask, as I own a piano that has not been tuned in my lifetime – which doesn’t stop me from playing it!
Tell Josh that we have a very quiet household, if he needs a vacation. Well, it’s quiet until my girl gets going, but she does sleep at least 10 hours a day, and NO ONE is awake at 11 pm.
I’ve always wanted to learn guitar. Maybe someday.
I can’t help with either but I’d love to have a guitar. They are giving free guitar lessons at my church.
I would LOVE to teach you to string your guitar! It really is easy, although “a” (above) is right, the fiddly bit is in the tuning afterwards. New strings need time to stretch out into place a bit, and they seem to affect each other somehow as well. So you can get the whole thing tuned up, strum one chord, and instantly find that it’s all out of whack again. It does take a while for the strings to settle into their new groove. But it’s so fun and new strings sound so crystalline and pure after you’ve been playing on rusty old things. Wish I lived closer to you.
I would pay good money to watch the Ford Family Band. Puhleeze make this a reality.
I don’t have a show and tell this week, but just wanted to post to say, “love that you have this. It’s such a great way to meet new bloggers!”
While I haven’t yet learned to string my guitar, I can tune it. I too figure I should learn the stringing part. Both my husband and I are musical and have a feeling our daughter will be exposed to it one way or another.
Now only if I could do a B chord, I’d actually be able to learn most of the songs I’ve been dying to learn. Well, practicing would help to. Hey, maybe your family and my family band can get together one day and do a gig. Wouldn’t that be awesome? 😉
Show and Tell…what a cool idea! Thanks a lot for doing ICLW…this month I have been able to comment daily and it is a great way to find new blogs.
Shannon – January ICLW
I once has a beautiful guitar. And then I sold it on eBay in a fit of purging. I still regret it even though I can’t play for shit.
My post’s up!
Yep, it’s the tuning once you’ve put the new strings on, and then they untune themselves quick smart and you have to do it again pretty soon after. So don’t blame the shop lady for wanting you to sound good. To quote a fiddle player I heard performing at a folk festival recently “we tune because we care”!
And I think you should just trust your husband on the lap harp.
But your singing rocks. I’ve heard it I’m sure.
Wow, guitar and strings…
I used to have weekly violin lessons when I was preschool. I hated them and the darn instrument, always munching away on my play time. A couple of years after the teacher finally convinced my mum that talent without hard work equals squat and that I’d better focus on something else, I entered the folk era of my life and got a guitar. I taught myself a couple of string and would improvise the same, sad folkish songs about lost love and lost persons (I was 13, had no idea about losing, but never stopped to think about it, as any other 13 yo). My mum actually paid me to stop “singing”. Easiest bucks I ever made. 😉
Don’t let the uninitiated deter you from your alternative career, Mel. I am sure you could give ol’ Dylan a run for his money. As for the kids, my experience says that the sooner you start with the music thing, the sooner you realise if you’ve got it or not (as I didn’t) and can regroup and go some other way. 😉
I love the photos. I received a banjo for Christmas, it’s a long convoluted story as to how a banjo was chosen and ends with me wanting to reclaim something that had been tarnished, even if by my own pettiness. I posted some pictures of it not too long ago. I need to find someone to teach me to play because it sounds like someone is killing a goat when I try.
I hope you can find someone to show you how to restring it. Good luck with band camp!
I want to go to band camp! if we lived closer, M would teach you how to string your guitar. and I’d bang on our djembe and we could have a grand old time.
What is it with people who feel they need to fix other people. For goodness sake, why couldn’t she just restring your guitar. Silly woman. I hope you get something figured out. Band camp sounds like fun. Although the words “band camp” always makes me think of American Pie.
How are we supposed to kumbaya around the campfire if you can’t restring your guitar?!?!
And how terribly self-righteous of the music store clerk to tell you you had no business owning a guitar if you couldn’t take better care of it. Seriously? Maybe you mistakenly went in on Free Opinion Day.
I’ve just stupidly managed to post this one under last week’s as well as this week’s.
Anyway, my first Show & Tell post is up.